Markus Kreidl, Liebherr-Transportation Systems GmbH

Open Source is a great and constantly growing technology pool consisting of millions of tools, rapidly developing technologies and solutions for nearly every technical problem. Some parts of the Open Source world are determined by asynchronous programming while other parts are determined by rather strict, slim and goal-oriented work cycles. Both parts can be a prolific environment for new technologies and innovations. But industry - more specific railway industry - is one of the most conservative markets with respect to the adoption of new technologies and adherence to standards. Industrial products are developed over years according to a strict life cycle and must be maintained over decades. Typical railway products are embedded solutions with the focus on low resource and safety constraints. The Open Source community offers many solutions, which may fit into these industrial applications, but some of them cannot be used because of the gap between the "fast and cool" Open Source world and the industry that is focused on long-term life cycles. This paper is motivated by the possibility to minimize the gap between the Open Source world and the world that is dominated by formal development life cycles (DLCs), to show ways how to integrate Open Source into industrial DLCs and to decrease prejudices (on both sides).